This girl was persistent. I’d give her that. By the time we reached the counter, I’d said “no” six different ways, and somehow, I still found myself rattling off my number after we’d ordered. On the not-so-off chance this was some kind of murder scheme though, I didn’t give her my real name.
She squinted as she typed in what I’d told her. “Tony Samson?”
“Yup.”
“That your real name, cowboy?”
“Sure,” I said. “As far as you know.”
Her laugh was bright and unbothered, like this kind of nonsense was a daily thing for her. She slid her card to the barista before I could pull out mine.
“I’ll get this one, Tony,” she said with a wink. “Don’t ghost my friend. She’s adorable. You’ll thank me later.”
She picked up her iced whatever, twirled like she was on a runway, and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me standing there with a regular black coffee I hadn’t paid for and zero idea what the hell had just happened.
I literally scratched my head as I watched her go. Maybe I’d just been scammed. Or recruited into a cult. It was hard to tell in this city, but if all my profiles suddenly got hacked and the pictures changed to that of a hot, exotic-looking woman, I was taking my mother’s advice and moving the business to Oklahoma fucking City.
Alex could commute. All he really needed was his phone and a tailored suit, anyway.
Hours later, after a shower, a shave, and wrangling myself into a damn tailored suit of my own, I was still thrown out of whack by the encounter. I’d been to many cities all over the world and I’d never been through anythingremotelyas random as that.
Alex saved me from wondering if I was going to be stalked, slaughtered, and stuffed like a goddamn turkey when he called. “I’m outside. You can come on down.”
Shaking my head and deciding it was probably better to be extra careful, I made sure my place was locked up tight and then I rode the elevator down, still tugging at my collar and swatting at my hair.I hadn’t been made for this shit, I swear.
A black SUV idled at the curb and I knew without having to be told or called overthatwas the car. When I slid inside, Alex was there, scrolling through his phone like a man about to lose his mind.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “You said dinner, not espionage.”
“There’s been a change in our itinerary,” he said, not looking up from his screen. “I’m afraid there’s no way around it.”
“So we were going to do a little casual espionage until the plans changed?” I frowned. After the day I’d had, I was just about done with weird and cryptic encounters. I turned on my seat to face him and cocked my head, catching his deep green gaze and holding it when he finally glanced up. “What the hell is going on, Alex? Just give it to me straight.”
He sighed, pressing the button on the side of his phone to lock his screen and then setting the device down between us.Fucking finally.“We’re going to my dad’s club.”
“You don’t mean a dance club, do you?”
He shook his head. “Cigar club.”
“The one with old men and taxidermy?”
“That’s the one.” His face was suddenly tight. “I need your help, Trent.”
I groaned. “Whatever this is?—”
A strangely tortured expression clouded his eyes as he held up a hand to cut me off, and that, more than anything else, shut me right the hell up. Alex didn’t do tortured. He didn’t ask for help. But as he sighed and sent me a pleading look, it was immediately obvious that this meant something to him.
“Hear me out, Trent. Please. Just… hear me out.”
CHAPTER 5
CHARLOTTE
The club wasn’t the kind of place that welcomed jeans, so I’d dressed up. Dressed to the nines, actually, thrilled Dad had invited me with him tonight.
For once, he’d invitedme. Not Alex. Or Nate. Or any of the other four, but me.
It was a rare enough occasion that I smiled as we walked in, feeling like a princess even though I was creeped out by oil portraits lining the walls, each showcasing an old man who looked as smug as if they’d personally invented money.
